Rose Garden @ Hampton Court
>Click here to view this photo book
Thames Cruise London to Hampton Court, May 2012
This week I got a request for help from Sidney and company who flew to South Africa May 1st for their three-month stay.
Dear E,
Hope you are having a grand spring day.
We have just returned from Zimbabwe where we helped a girl (18 yrs old) get back into school – about 8th grade. Because they have to pay for each semester and because they are so poor, her Father could not send her this semester. She is very bright and has dreams of studying law. When we talked to the Head Master to pay, we met in a Small, crude but clean room in which a few shelves had been installed. He told us with great pride that it is their library but they have no books. He asked if we might be able to find a few people to send books…ANY books. They teach and read English. So, question is, would you have any books that you could give and send to this school? The cost to send is a little high, but if only one box could be sent that would be a God send to them. I will certainly understand if this can’t be done. We have also sent an email to ask our Church to send a box. When we return, We can get other friends to help. These people so struggle to get an education and are so desperate, they will welcome any kind of books.
I have an address..
Alick Sonke Kumalo Head School Master
P. O. Box CT 525
Chinotimba Stand 7240
Victoria, ZimbabweThank you so much for your encouragement and help in the past. I truly appreciate you my dear friend.
Would you pass this on to anyone you think might send a few books please?In joy, Sidney
Of course last fall I had sorted through my personal library and donated a couple of boxes to our local library book sale. However, I did find my complete works of Shakespeare (very fine print), a paperback dictionary, a few fiction books in paperback from a high school reading assignment, a book on card tricks plus new playing cards which all landed in my send to the Head Master pile. To round out the shipment and fill a USPS flat rate box, I went to Half Price Books clearance self last night to buy a selection of hard back non-fiction books.
Book shipment
Helping Hands Touching Hearts website:
http://www.clotheavillagenow.com/clotheavillagenow/Welcome.html
May 12th has come and gone. It was too cold to prepare this year’s hanging baskets.
The baskets
Notice, we repurposed door knobs to help organize the potting shed.
In the meantime, just a few images of Mother Nature’s glory on Mother’s Day….
Iris
Lilly of the Valley
Lilac
Last of the season’s tulips
Iris, too
Eggplant and White Bean Soup
I found the recipe on thestonesoup.com. Jules Clancy is a Australian food scientist who has blogged about her speciality for six years. She does an amazing job developing recipes.
Another favorite blogger of mine is Tim Ferriss author of 4 Hour Workweek, 4 Hour Body and the latest 4 Hour Chef.
It’s a small world after all. According to Jules post yesterday, she met with Tim Ferriss and was included in the 4 Hour Chef.
Marsh marigolds
Virginia Bluebells
Trillium
Dutchman’s britches
Dogtooth violet
Flowering quince
This is prime time for hunting Morel mushrooms in the woods of Indiana. Alas, I have no photos of mushroom hunting in the wildwood.
Thanks to Dottie Miller for the adventure in her backyard and the wildlife education. The opportunity to see these wildflowers in bloom is little more than a week in late April/early May depending upon weather. These wild flower photos were taken in 2011 in the Eagle Creek watershed.
Dreamy
Kathleen Birmingham has an article in this month’s issue of Acreage Life about creating outdoor rooms. She addresses site, furnishing, lighting, weather and privacy. My favorite expert is Australian native Jamie Durie, designer of outdoor spaces and host of his own HGTV show. http://jamiedurie.com/
Elfcroft is blessed with several outdoor rooms….a west side arbor, east facing screened porch with a swing and south-facing golden quartz flagstone patio open for star-gazing surrounded by a moon garden. The orientation makes a huge difference in the comfort level. Screened, shaded and open sky….we have it covered. What we don’t have….and it is probably the favorite outdoor room in Indiana….the basketball court/driveway. Well, we have a driveway. The basketball goal was worn out years ago. They do wear out. 😦
Porch swing with great cushion
Moon garden
Daffodils
Ahh spring, clumps of daffodils are blooming in lawns in every direction. Like a song that plays in your mind, the Wordsworth poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud” has been in my head. When I did a Google search for the poem, I discovered it filmed to rap music in 2007. A human performs it in a squirrel costume….really. It is available on YouTube. For me, this poem is better the old-fashioned way…..a classic from 1804.
I WANDERED lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed--and gazed--but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. Written by William WordsworthSpring mix
Not this grass!
Amber waves
Now that it is spring, I did not mow the grass…..but cut it back.
This 10-year-old clump of Miscanthus Maiden Grass has died out in the center. As I cut it back I thought it would make a great nest for geese. “And what to my wondering eyes appear!”
Look at the bottom center of the photo.
10 Mallard Duck eggs
Our ducks chose to nest beside the Maiden grass.
10 eggs!
I looked up the “Twelve Days of Christmas”…perhaps because I wanted to sing….the line is six geese a’laying (for the six days of creation)…it was seven swans a’swimming (for the seven Catholic sacraments).
Looking forward to posting photos of 10 ducklings 🙂
Yesterday I browsed through my local Barnes and Noble bookstore. I was thrilled to find The Twelfth Insight by James Redfield, published in 2011. The last of his four earlier books was published in 1999. I missed the “Celestine Prophecy” movie produced in 2006, but have read all his books and been a fan. I finished reading The Twelfth Insight this evening. Redfield introduces wonderful concepts through an adventure story. If you liked his earlier work, you will like The Twelfth Insight and Chapter One is Sustaining Synchronicity. The unplanned stop in the bookstore was my synchronicity in action.
During two earlier trips to the same bookstore I discovered How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Author Herman and Backyard Medicine by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal. Each book said “take me home”. Reading modern history from a Scottish point of view was fascinating, because Scotland in the 1600s was an incubator for economic and government theory which was very influential in the founding of the United States. The second book Backyard Medicine is inspiring future blog posts. Stay tuned.
Not only it is Easter the Holiest of Christian days, but for Elfcroft today is preparation to ship homemade children’s clothes to support Helping Hands Touching Hearts mission in South Africa. Content in the photos is the culmination of work over the last six months (my day job, etc has priority).
2013 Girls Dresses, Skirts and Tops
Credit to my assistant Shelby!
Blessing
Packing
Let’s go!
We did it! We filled the 1.11 cu ft box with 10 pairs of shorts (4 homemade shown above in brown fabric), 9 skirts and tops in two different sizes and 10 girls dresses in various sizes…..and Shelby gets to stay home to help with the next project.
One of the endearing things about Sidney at Helping Hands Touching Hearts is that she especially wants the girls clothing to be pretty. Also, these items will be delivered personally by Sidney, Wayne and C.J. Here are some photos on their website.
http://www.clotheavillagenow.com/clotheavillagenow/Welcome.html
elfcroft 